dear
1 Americanadjective
-
beloved or loved.
a dear friend.
- Synonyms:
- darling
-
(used in the salutation of a letter as an expression of affection or respect or as a conventional greeting).
Dear Sir.
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precious in one's regard; cherished.
our dearest possessions.
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heartfelt; earnest.
one's dearest wish.
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high-priced; expensive.
The silk dress was too dear.
-
charging high prices.
That shop is too dear for my budget.
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excessive; high.
a dear price to pay for one's independence.
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Obsolete. difficult to get; scarce.
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Obsolete. worthy; honorable.
noun
-
a person who is good, kind, or generous.
You're a dear to help me with the work.
-
a beloved one.
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(sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address, as to a child or romantic partner (sometimes offensive when used to a stranger, subordinate, etc.)
adverb
-
dearly; fondly.
-
at a high price.
That painting cost me dear.
interjection
adjective
adjective
-
beloved; precious
-
used in conventional forms of address preceding a title or name, as in Dear Sir or my dear Mr Smith
-
important; close
a wish dear to her heart
-
-
highly priced
-
charging high prices
-
-
appealing or pretty
what a dear little ring!
-
urgently or with extreme vigour or desperation
interjection
noun
adverb
Synonym Usage
See expensive.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of dear1
First recorded before 900; Middle English dere, deire, Old English dēore, dīore, dȳre; cognate with Old High German tiuri, Old Norse dȳrr
Origin of dear2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English dere “fierce, hard,” Old English dēor “brave, bold, severe”
Explanation
If someone or something is dear to you, it means you hold them or it very close to your heart, as in "My country is very dear to me" or "She is a dear friend." As a written form of address — such as "Dear Mr. So-and-so" — dear is generally a polite but impersonal standard greeting. Dear can sometimes mean expensive, as in "The cost of food is so dear these days," though that's a rather dated usage nowadays. Used about children, baby animals, or other examples of insufferable cuteness, dear can also mean "sweet" or "adorable." In this sense, dear is a favorite word of grandmothers and other doting relations.
Vocabulary lists containing dear
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 1
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Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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"Earthquake"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Saar’s dear friend, artist and jeweler Neil Lane, recalls how she taught him to collage: slowly layering papers with matte medium and, of course, saving every scrap.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Sara and I grieve with the American people over the loss of our dear friend, Senator Lindsey Graham.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
"Our thoughts and prayers are for her dear family and friends," it added.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
"God willing... we will go together to say goodbye to our dear leader."
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
He held on for dear life as the outhouse started jerking and jolting, ’most shaking his teeth loose.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
“We didn’t keep that,” she said, “but I loved learning what Lydia would do if she could. ‘Eyes forward dears, we are not sitting comfortably in a class room.’”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2025
I would think to myself, Oh, my dears, if you could only see who you are speaking to and how hard they work.
From Slate ● Apr. 4, 2024
He helped a few old dears over the threshold, didn't he?'
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2023
By ingesting the chirpy little dears, Bergenkind seeks to internalize the little guys’ sunny joyfulness.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2016
Snatching the paper, I spoke in a monotone: You have helped me so much over these past few years, I just can't thank you enough, you wonderful dears.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
"We bring our children and teenagers alongside us so they can see military training, and whenever our leader, dearer than our lives, gives the command, we will all come to the field," she told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
Just as tomato prices begin cooling down, onions have gotten dearer by a quarter since June in the domestic market.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2023
“The freedom I had before the money was paid was dearer to me,” Ms. Jacobs wrote.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2023
“She will be dearer than my children because she will keep the memory alive of her father, mother and siblings.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2023
I write to you, encompassed by peril and ignorant whether I am ever doomed to see again dear England and the dearer friends that inhabit it.
From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
Over dinner recently, I got to talking with one of my dearest friends — let’s call him Paul — about relationships.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
“Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant,” she wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026
As long as you and your wife have enough set aside for retirement, keep living the dream and passing it along to your nearest and dearest.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
By then police had arrested dozens of pro-democracy figures, including many of “my dearest friends and colleagues,” she says, and she noticed what looked like a police vehicle loitering outside her home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
“It is my great pleasure to celebrate this momentous occasion with you—my dearest friends in the world.”
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
